Cushion device for swingletrees.



H. A. WEEKS. CUSHION DEVICEFOR SWlNGL'ETR-EES,

APPLICATION FILED MAR. l, 19H5.

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U ern HUGH A. WEEKS, OF WHITAKERS, NORTH CAROLINA.

CUSHION DEVICE FOR SWINGLETREES.

Application led March 1, 1916.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, HUGH A. WEEKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVhitakers, in the county of Edgecombe and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cushion Devices for Swingletrees; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in cushion devices for swingle-trees, and has for an object to provide an improved device of this character which is constructed of few and simple parts readily adapted to be applied to the usual cross bar extending between the shafts of a buggy or like vehicle, and without altering the usual construction of the running gear or swingletree as now manufactured.

Another object of the present invention resides in providing a device interposed between the shafts-cross bar and swingle-tree for absorbing shocks and jars transmitted from the draft animal to the vehicle running gear. and which will, moreover, relieve the shoulders of the draft animal of strains now ordinarily imposed thereon.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, and in which similar reference symbols indicate corresponding parts of the several views: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a vehicle running gear illustrating the improved cushioning device as constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional. view of the improved appliance on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the line 4 4 in Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 and 2 designate the usual shafts of a buggy or other vehicle; 3 the cross bar connecting said shafts 1 and 2, and 4 the swingle-tree; all made in accordance with the usual construction. Instead of being directly attached to the cross bar 3, the swingle-tree 4 is fitted through a hollow slide Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

Serial No. 81,438.

5 pivoted to rock on a bolt 6 slidably eX- tending through elongated slots 7 and 8 in upper and lower vplates 9 and 10 of a framework.

The plates 9 and 10 are spaced apart, as clearly shown in" Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, by means of front and rear blocks 11 and 12, the parts being assembled and secured together by bolts or other means 13 and 14. The front block 11 and slide 5 are formed with studs 15 and 16, respectively, over which are mounted the opposite ends of a coil spring 17 for yieldingly maintaining said slide 5 in the rearward position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and lying against the rear block 12.

The lower plate 10 is formed with a transverse rib 18 extending slightly forward of the center of said frame, and provided with an abrupt front wall 19 adapted to rest against the rear upper edge of the cross bar 3 in the manner best shown in Fig. 2. The cushioning frame is held in position by a bolt 20 having a T-shaped head 21 with beveled side faces 22 and 23, for which see Fig. 4; and the head 21 is inserted through a 'T'- shaped opening 24 in the lower plate 10 forwardly of the rib 18, the transverse portion of the slot 24 being shaped complemental to the head 21, and wherein the latter is snugly fitted when the device is mounted on the cross bar 3. A brace 25 is secured by a bolt 26 to the rear of the lower plate 10, extending forwardly therefrom and being secured beneath the cross bar 3 and over the bolt 20.

The traces from the draft animal are hitched to the whiftle-tree 4, in the usual manner, and the draft strain will be transmitted from the Whittle-tree 4 through the coil spring 17 to the cushioning frame and cross bar 3. The slide 5 carrying the whiiiietree 4 will move forwardly, compressing the spring 17 when the vehicle encounters any obstacle in sudden opposition to the draft, or when the draft animal exerts a sudden strain upon the running gear of the vehicle; and motion thus made will be transmitted through the cushioning device, which will absorb such shocks and jars and will insure smooth riding to the occupants of the vehicle, and will decrease the strain on the shoulders of the draft animal.

It will be readily seen that the appliance may be easily attached and removed through the T-headed bolt 20 which lits in the usual opening in the cross bar 3, and that it is not necessary tok alter any of the parts of the running vgear or whiffle-tree in mountf said frame, said frame including a lower plate having a T-shaped openingl with inclined walls in the head thereof, a T-shaped bolt fitted through said cross bar and provided with a flat head adapted to be inserted through the T-shaped opening in said plate and with inclined side faces for snugly fitting the inclined walls of the head of said opening, a rigid brace extending between said cross bar and the rear end of said plate and being mounted at its forward end over said bolt, and means for securing said brace to said plate, substantially as described.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 2. The combination with vehicle shafts and a cross bar connecting said shafts and having a perforation therein, of a frame comprising a lower plate having a slot and a T-shaped opening with inclined walls therein, a transverse rib projecting beneath said plate and having a forwardly abrupt shoulder adapted to fit against said cross bar, a bolt fitted in the perforation in said cross bar and having a T-shaped head with inclined side faces adapted to be received through the T-shaped opening in said plate and to snugly fit against said inclined walls, a rigid brace extending between said cross bar and the rear end of said plate being secured over said bolt, blocks secured at the ends of said plate, an upper plate resting on said blocks and provided with a slot therein, fastening means passing through said plates and blocks and through the rear end of said brace, a slide fitted to move in the space between said blocks, a whiflle-tree carried in said slide, a bolt passing through said slide and whiiile-tree and slidable in the slot-s in said plates, and spring means five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

